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During our half hour mediation this morning that our monastic community makes halfway through our Office of Vigils, I was making my way slowly around our inner cloister garden, which I guess is a form of walking meditation that I will often partake in.

In the latter part of February here in the south, you can feel a taste of spring in the air.A cool refreshing breeze, winter-like, yet also gentle, like the difference of the bravado of a young man and the more humble and hopefully gentle soul of an older gentleman.I so love the early morning, before the cars begin to drive past our Monastery.Though the sound of passing cars is really not that distracting for me.

Sometimes, very early in the morning, the silence is so deep that it seeps into my bones, bringing rest to and often weary soul, with a drunken monkey mind.At other times, the silence brings out my own inner dance with my thoughts and emotions that make them louder and more demanding.This morning, thank God, I was in a peaceful place, and the dance I was doing was a waltz, a gentle one and not a mosh pit.

We have a small fountain in our cloister garden that is very beautiful and we have plants and goldfish living below its waters.I often forget that there is a bullfrog in residence as well, for during the day it is silent and for most of the winter, not a peep can be heard.Some mornings, however, it gives off its sound, even in winter if it is warm enough… calling, calling, for someone to respond.For the past few years, no one answers his forlorn call.This morning as I listened I waited hoping for a response, but as has been usual lately, there is only a silent waiting, without end, so it seems for our lonely bullfrog.Does our bullfrog know that it is waiting?Yet how like me, for I often forget that I am waiting also, sometimes not sure what it is, but when I wait and am silent, often saying my beads slowly, I feel ‘something’, a gentle response that washes away my fatigue with myself and life, and makes me feel young again.If I decide or am compelled not to wait, my fatigue only gets deeper making my soul brittle and desperate for rest.The noon-day-devil only takes and gives nothing in return.

The inner journey is a slow one, with many side steps and at times wrong paths are taken.Yet like walking the labyrinth, we circle in and out, taking one-step-at-a-time, until finally after a long journey we do arrive at the center, that for which we are made.

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We are not authorized to deny that there are creatures in other stars that are completely different from ours.

Cardinal Nicolaus Cusanus (1401 - 1464)

In today's world, where every tenth becomes a prophet with all the followers of the crowd, and every third claims to have seen the UFOs who gave him the mission of saving the world, there is a need for Christians to talk about the UFO phenomenon. Who are those ufonovates, also known as NSOnautai or simply aliens? What extremes are taking on the church in this matter? Let's try to look at what's happening in the world at the same time and how different Christian communities react, what they are talking about and what their current classmates are doing. Who are those aliens, also known as extrateriastrials? What extremes are taking on the church in this matter? Let's try to look at what's happening in the world at the same time and how different Christian communities react, what they are talking about and what their current "brothers and sisters" are doing.

A small brief on the UFO phenomenon

The UFOs - unrecognized flying objects, in 1947 the businessman and flyer Kenneth Arnold were "baptized" with flying saucers, as a phenomenon known to the public for a long time. Specific reports of light in the sky appeared in the media from the second half of the 19th century. but their opinion that references to flying saucers can be found in ancient art, starting with the signs of the Naska Valley and the Egyptian pyramid drawings and finishing with Renaissance paintings. There are also those who believe that the UFO is spoken in various cultures and scriptures, from the Bible to the Vedas and Talmud, not forgetting the legends of mystical Dogon tribes about the arrivals of Syria. It is not necessary to tell the story of the phenomenon itself or to go into the discussions as much as contacts with the extraterrestrials and the light in the sky are real.

The main strangeness is not that people say they've seen something or have been communicating with someone, but the news that the aliens come from outer space itself. It's usually messianic messages that are received, as witnesses say, directly or through astral contact. A frequent contact person feels an unceasing desire to announce to the whole world that the time of adversity is approaching or that the aliens have put their probe in their heads. As a rule, contact takes place like this: meeting, kidnapping, warning to mankind, the message of salvation or destruction, the contact person receives the mesmerizing task of reporting this "good news" to all humanity. So the contactees publishing "good news of the aliens" no worse than did Christians of the first centuries.

20th century In the first half, it was believed that space enthusiasts arrived from Mars or Venus, at least from there, was the radio station of the Herbert George Wells novel "The World Wars", which caused a universal panic in New York in 1938, when people fled from the city after the release of the show and hid for days on the outskirts of Mars Invasion. The testimony of contacts of that time is evidenced by the same. Later, after expanding to the astronomical knowledge of the universe, and especially after J. Gagarin, the alien homeland started to move away. Until recently, they separated from nearby or famous stars, mostly from sirius constellation, or from planets that were supposedly to those stars. At this time, aliens have moved to live in other galaxies or in star systems that our scientists simply do not know. Normally, such information can not be verified, and the one that is available is usually simply misinformation: the stranger's pawn is from the planet Parasirijus, which is located near the Earth and is about four light years away. What can the coordinates of the alien homeland say? Only so much that it is not known what the place is closer than the nearest star, the Kentauro Proxima. Such and even more misinformation occurs very often.

Another oddity, necessarily accompanying the UFO phenomenon, is conspiracy theories. The reader could certainly see some of them in the "X files" series. The most popular "theories" (Area 51, the Roswell catastrophe, men in black and others) usually reveal the basic idea that the government hides from the public the fact that aliens really exist and that contacts have long been established and various projects are being implemented using alien technologies. Sometimes these conspiracy theories are also mixed in by the fact that the Vatican goes with the government, because he really knows that there is no God, and that the aliens are prototypes of all gods, only to deceive us.

Paleocontact - Aliens become gods

The main idea of one of the most prominent supporters of paleocontact, Erich von Däniken, is already quite widespread among pseudo-archeology and pseudo-history, saying that the aliens had visited the Earth on an ancient day, people supported them, began to worship them, and thus religions, including Christianity, arose. Eduard von Däniken in one book, "Raumfarth im Altertum", describes quite well how the alienss contacted the archaic man, as the first representative of the homo-sapiens was probably not from the planet Earth. It is also mentioned that the description of the alien spacecraft is found in Ezechiel's vision. Unfortunately, various religious or pseudoreligic groups are also getting such ideas. Ufonoates, who have became messiahs of humanity, have taught and even created it, are often reflected in the 20th century. The founder of the first organization, called Rael, interacted with the alien who "scientifically" explained to him the Bible. The founder of the second organization, Vladimir Ivanovich Skubaev, shed "The Gospel according to the White Lotus", which describes an alternative world history, in which the incoming person from the same sirius constellation became a teacher of mankind. Let's not forget the followers of such titles as the Urantia Book and the Scientologists founded by Lafayette Ronald Hubbard who were also quite capable of teaching their Jesus-flying hand-held spacecraft, and yet the abundance of others. Christians find this funny or blasphemous.

Erich von Däniken's fellow friend Giorgio Tsoukalos, they both call themselves ufologists. They are well known in "ancient aliens" series.

In the world, religious sects appear daily. Perhaps the reader remembers organization the "Heavenly Gate" in the last decade of the last century. His chief Marshall Hertt Applewhitte said that the aliens had been sent to bring mankind to heaven because, in his view, Earth had to be eradicated in the year 2000. The organization of the visa expired in 1997 when Heilly-Bop Comets approached the Earth. The whole group of believers "flew away" in a spacecraft which was "hiding" on the comet's tail. Jesus himself piloted, in that occasion they took a lethal dose of barbiturate and putted plastic bags on their heads.

It is a pity, but there are always people who tend to rely on various strange, "scientific" or innovative Biblical teachings. The admirers of Däniken Paleocontact's mind-blowing ideas forget that their multiplication often distorts the facts and raises ideas that do not have a real confirmation, but only his personal guesses. One of the flagship statements could be the fact that the spacecraft, the captain of which was named Yahweh, appeared to the Jews. It is perfectly normal for such people that Moses, seeing the descending spaceship, thought for his misunderstanding that it was a burning bush, that Ezechiel saw the spacecraft at the Kebara River, forgetting that there was a crowd of people who did not see this spacecraft, and that Jesus ( spacecraft physician ) accidentally left on Earth. From then he is a , distributing dry food. The proponents of Däniken's ideas, Raelians, followers of Heaven's Gate and others often distort the Bible's text, distorts the text from context and ignore any historical critical approach, seeing aliens in any place. What to do? It you can't live without faith.

Usually such ideas are more dangerous for people who do not have a clear religious identity, even though such cases occur even when human pastors suddenly begin to tell how they interacted with the aliens and how they taught them the true faith. I am referring to the events of 1994 in Lithuania, when priest Petras Zabiela (renamed, but known to those concerned with the phenomenon of UFOs) has claimed to have been abducted by aliens who showed him his temple in 1992, explained that they live without sin . The priest spoke on television and in the newspapers. The message of the religious aliens has not spread to the world. Surprisingly, such contactees usually tend to to identify aliens within gods and without any paleocontact theory. For them, aliens become angels or equated with gods. Here is the danger to christian or other religions.

When the aliens become almighty gods, salvation becomes unnecessary, and religion is meaningless, because could some random spacecraft physician (Jesus), who did not know anything on the Earth, save the humanity, if his words were falsely conveyed?

E. Norman goes even further than Däniken. According to him, the UFOs are sent to earth in our time, in order to transmit God through them to tell truth about ourselves. The tendencies of both authors' affirmations are felt in many ufo-religious movements.

Such pictures are often interpreted according to personal ideology

Such Bible interpretations have nothing to do with traditional education or traditional religion. Disregarding the historical and theological context, the facts are distorted, and the Bible is perceived as the author needs. Paradoxal, but not traditional Christians, writers of this kind begin, diligently study the scriptures.

Religion or science?

One of the mistakes made by Christians regarding the UFOs is to see this phenomenon only as a religious phenomenon or as a danger to religion as such, rejecting any other possibility. Usually Christians associate faith with aliens unequivocally with magic, occultism, and sects. This is evident in the reading of the popular Christian literature on this subject. Also feature films such as M. Night Shyamalan's Signs (2002) or Alex Proyas Knowing (2009) or Steve Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), which have a great influence on the alien beliefs and the recognition of religion, Spiritual issues are dealt with in one way or another. The Signs clergyman, played by Mel Gibson, fights with aliens, guided by the prophecy given to a dying wife, has a very bright eschatological and messianic mood. Spielberg's masterpiece has become almost a canonical icon of ufology experience.

Of course, we don't have to reject the fact that the UFO sects and even the manifestations of magic are quite common in ufology. Such sects appear quite often. Thanks to "God", not everyone ends as sadly as the Heavenly Gate Group. However, due to the fault of such movements, people who try to evaluate the phenomenon of UFOs more or less scientifically, are Christians in the same way as devilish sectants. Independent researchers such as Randles, B. Hopkins. His books tend to shake their research in any religious context. Again, the level of scholarship in their work is another issue, but we will not discuss it, emphasizing only that not everything related to the aliens and the UFO's is the object of religion.

Scientific research projects such as SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) are often forgotten, which, although some scholars are skeptical about being condemned to failure or meaningless, are based on purely scientific methods and are engaged in life forms, especially those who think on other planets , searches. The SETI program is fully committed to isolating itself from the UFO phenomenon, and does not fully grasp what might be happening in the Earth, and they are interested in the distant cosmos. Programs such as SETI have already made a number of discoveries. In 2007 Gliese 581 C was discovered for Earth-like planet, and more planets would be discovered in future (just a guessing). There are already hundreds of planets circling around other stars that have already been found. Perhaps Giordan Bruno was right in the 16th century. saying that on other planets there are also intelligence creatures?

Demonization of extraterrestrials

The real or false alien invasion of the planet of the Earth has affected most of humanity. This phenomenon was studied by special services, investigated by scholars, described by fantasy writers, and was also debated by theologians of various Christian denominations such as Presbyterian Barry Downing or Evangelist Billy Graham. The first aliens considered the divine act of baptism, the second thought that the UFO's were nothing else but the angels' way of appearing to man of this age. By the way, the same other authors also talk about demons. Such theological sophism raised the idea that the UFO's appearances are one of the signs of eschatological times. Angels - the aliens became prophets of the end of time, so the end ir near... Of course, then there were also opposing opinions. Christian fundamentalists, claiming that the Bible no longer mentions the civilizations of other planets, began to assert that the nature of aliens can only be demonic. So the UFO's and the aliens are reunited with eschatology, only this time they prophesy not the quick coming of Christ, but of the Antichrist.

Some aliens species often claim to be evil, for example "little greys".

The demonization of the aliens has been accompanied by this phenomenon since the "cause" has been named, that uncertain light in the sky is the manifestation of aliens from space. Current ufologists also see UFOs' manifestations in the old fashion and the old texts, but the people of that time considered various light in heaven as demonic and divine signs, the current Christian tends to see only demonic manifestations in it. This comes not only from the perception of the phenomenon itself, but also from the denominations , demonology and various teachings of spiritual theology. One Church takes over from one another, and the original idea seems to be worshiping with a growing force of Christianity. The main demons of the alien phenomenon are a large part of Protestant denominations, such as the well-known Word of the Faith. By the way, the Orthodox Church holds the same opinion. The Roman Catholic Church is also at the same time undergoing some of the ideas of alien demonism, although it is often only the insights of individual priests. There are published books in which the UFO phenomenon is uniquely associated with magic and occultism. An example of such literature could be the Enzo Bianco brochure Magic. Although it is not true, but I believe, "which essentially discusses the phenomenon of magic, but one section is dedicated to the UFO cult. Such books are usually relatively poor, both Catholic and Protestant. As a rule, such publications tend to recall the propaganda literature of Soviet times with a great deal of inaccuracies, attacks and personalities. As far as it is to be noted, the hierarchs of the Catholic Church on this issue are not inclined to make such bold conclusions by attaching demons to the aliens. However, various types of ufologists quotes these texts with various enchantments. It is, of course, strange that churches that disagree on the Bible and the questions of Christ's teaching become so united and identical in the mind of an enemy, unknown or real.

Since the Revelation of Aliens does not speak, so the Bible, translated through personal insights, becomes the main criterion for evaluating the question of UFO sightings and abductions. In principle, Christians, in an attempt to support the demonicity of aliens in the Bible, behave in the same way as those who are trying to prove the UFO's reality. The main arguments are often quite abstract, but for some theologians this is enough to see the similarities between the aliens and the demons of both types of subjects: night, confusion, distancing from belief, depression, fear, revelations manifestly contradictory to the Bible, violence from aliens / demons, sexual intercourse relationship with succubus/aliens. To a large extent, all these contacts can really be found in the biblical texts, but in this way we can stray into sofism and complete miss-interpretation of texts, and then we would act in the same way as the pseudo-scientist Erich von Däniken. But the path of lies is not a good Christian choice.

Anywa... on the aliens question are interested some Christian denominations. In 1980, the United States established the Church of the Movement for Resistance to Aliens near the famous Roswell Town. It is a Protestant fundamentalist community that provides psychological and spiritual assistance to victims of aliens. Interestingly, members of the community teach their clients how it is possible to interrupt abductions by means of prayer - this can be done by ordering Jesus' name.

Of course, opposition to resistance is not only among the Christians. Among the interested ufologists, a well-known person is V2 who, for free, distributes anti-Tactical stickers depicting an alien's head, crossed red. V2 invites all humanity to connect on Earth againt the aliens. The Savior identity is not known.

So, any fight against aliens is essentially a recognition that they exist. Christians, who have come to such a battle, often do not even suspect themselves of it, announce an alien good news.

Vatican and the aliens

After the Second Vatican meeting in the Catholic Church, when a charismatic renewal movement emerged, quite a large part of the faithful laymen and clergy began to interpret many aspects of the functioning of the Holy Spirit based on Protestant theology. Such a lack of practical theology in the Catholic Church has influenced a relatively large part of the Catholic view of the UFO phenomenon. These believers, like Protestant communities, have become unequivocally demons from other planets. However, a significant proportion of Catholic theologians and hierarchs do not lead to the demonization of UFO's. By evaluating this phenomenon in the light of revelation, they also do not forget scientific access to the question. Quite often, one or another representative of the Church speaks of extraterrestrial forms, but this is usually only their personal opinion; the media bubble is blowing it up, as happened in 2008 by the Director of the Vatican Observatory Jose Gabriel Funes S.J., expressing his opinion on extraterrestrial forms of life, and the media conveying it as the official position of the Vatican.

To this date, one of the most prominent personalities among the Catholic hierarchs is the Pontifical theologian and exorcist monsignor Corrado Balducci, who, unfortunately, died a couple of years ago. He was a Vatican's affiliate on UFO issues. This is most often quoted by theologian in ufologist's works. Father Balducci often spoke on ufology issues on television or in the press. Many times, a statement was made from his lips that the Church closely monitors the UFO phenomenon in the world and is trying to find out what that is. Balducci categorically opposed the demons of aliens, based on the fact that not all phenomena are inexplicable. Some of them are mere meteorological or psychological phenomena, but another part that can not be reasonably explained in any way is not necessarily spiritual. So, in order for the Church to speak in authoritative in the issue of the UFO's, it needs to know what it takes to deal with, because attacking the demonization of an unaccountable phenomenon is unlikely to happen, but the second witch hunt wave may begin.

There are quite a few serious theologians in the Catholic Church who are trying to reflect on the UFO phenomenon on the basis of today's academic achievements and theology. One of them is the Polish theologian Jacek Salij OP. Such theologians are often guided by the New Testament quotation saying: "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for it creates all that is in heaven and earth, whether visible or invisible, or thrones, affinity, or principality, or authority - all created through him and for him. "(Col. 1.15-16). These words of Paul show them that there is a possibility that God, being a great Creator whose wisdom and power are infinite, could have created the inhabitants of other planets, including those who intelligent.

Thus, although there is no official teaching on the in the Catholic Church, it is a matter for concern. Of course, any theological reflection on the morality of the aliens and the possibility of being baptized is still only at the level of fantasy novels, but if it ever happens that extraterrestrial life forms has actually visited/visiting all this time on Earth, then some kind of foundation will be laid for future theologians.

The haunting takes place in a two story home in Davis, CA. Occupants & Observers: Taylor Klisiewicz; Megan Klisiewicz; Paul Klisiewicz and Jackie Johnson. The home was first built in 1997. The Klisiewicz were the first occupants. Before the house was built, there was only farmland.

2004. Shadow figures seen. Megan sees apparitions walking past her bedroom. Megan was 6 or 7 years old at the time.Note: From 2004 to 2010 - Family feels like they are always being watched, especially from the balcony and bedrooms.

2005-2009 - Minor experiences happen.

2010 (Around March): The mother of the house saw a skull on the master bedroom door. Shadowy misty figure seen floating in a corner of a room, described also as a misty cloud. The mother confronted the entity and said: "you're not my father!" The misty cloud then disappears. POSSIBLE ENTITY: MISTY CLOUD

2011 - Paranormal Activity is dormant.

2012- 2013 - Taylor during his time as a peace officer and while on a case, comes across a female blonde who killed herself. Note: Deanna picks up on a female in the garage. Christina finds Taylor's old police clothes and Deanna feels the woman entity is attracted to Taylor's old police shirts. Megan says, this makes sense, because she feels the female entity is drawn close to Taylor. When Taylor found the dead body, he found pentagrams drawn near the body. POSSIBLE ENTITY: SUICIDE BLONDE

2014: Megan was looking out the master bedroom and saw her mom pull up in her grandmother's car. The grandmother is deceased and they inherited the car. After the mother was in the house, Megan looked out the window and saw her deceased grandmother sitting in the car. POSSIBLE ENTITY: GRANDMA.

2015: Activity is dormant.

2016: Mother opens up the pantry and sees deceased grandfather. The grandfather looks down to the right and he looked sad with his flannel shirt on. POSSIBLE ENTITY: GRANDPA

2017: Taylor has heavy feeling, feels cold air blast through a room, he also feels sadness and anger. He feels the sadness when he walks into his bedroom.

2018: Taylor moved to Foresthill and one of the entities may have followed him to Foresthill. Taylor captured an odd moving orb on video. It looks like a dancing orb.

EVIDENCE GATHERED:Jackie discovers extreme heat on Taylor's right arm and right ear and underneath his arm, he has a tattoo of the grim reaper and the heat is more intense on his tattoo.

Captured EVP in Taylor's old bedroom, that sounds like a man saying "darker version" or even "parker virgin". Other EVPs were strange popping sounds and even a "gasp" that sounds like an old man. Could this be the deceased grandfather? Tonight Paul K. felt uneasiness and chills. Deanna felt female energy in the laundry room, could this be Suicide Blonde? Deanna also saw a creature that was very tall and reminded her of the creature from the movie "Legend". POSSIBLE ENTITY: DARK ONE. Christina felt heaviness and was drawn to the police uniforms in the garage. Jacob felt hot and cold temperatures in the rooms. Jacob gained goosebumps from some of the rooms. I tried to see if the orbs had intelligent movement and told the orb activity to appear by Jacob's hand, as his hand was up against the wall. In two pictures, one orb is going towards his hand and the other picture the orb is near his hand.

Deanna picked up on a 4 feet tall White Shadow that went from the room with 2 doors to Taylor's old bedroom. POSSIBLE ENTITY: WHITE SHADOW.

Deanna conducted a metaphysical cleansing of the home and I conducted a Roman Catholic house blessing with holy water.

MY THOUGHTS:I do believe this house is haunted, there was even a time when Taylor buckled up and felt weak during my Roman Catholic cleansing. I even felt dizzy during the cleansing. Some of the EVPs were pretty clear. I just pray that Deanna and my cleansing will bring peace for this family. As we got home tonight, I just remembered we are dog sitting my next door neighbor's dog AJ. AJ was in his backyard, lonely and sad, he was even howling. I retrieved him from his backyard and brought him over to be with my dogs Hannah and Hi-Pee. AJ had a good meal, now he is kicking it with my dogs. From paranormal activity to dog heaven. Time to rest. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

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Yesterday I set a new personal record for hiking while on a working overnight in Burbank, CA. As soon as I arrived at the hotel, I packed my small REI backpack with two liters of water, some salted- and honey-roasted peanuts, and two flashlights (just in case I got hurt and had to signal for help after dark).

I set out hiking into the Verdugo Mountains, with my sights set on the Radio Towers at the peak: 6.5 miles up, and 6.5 miles down.

I stopped at the Nature Center in Stough Canyon to borrow a hiking stick. It’s a good thing I did, because in that last half-mile struggle to reach the top, I was using both hands to propel myself forward like those gondolier guys in Italy.

It was tough going, but it was worth it for the view: downtown Los Angeles to the west, Interstate 5 winding through the mountains to the east, and dozens of amazingly huge crows circling above me in the deep-blue skies and chasing one another, soaring and spinning, chattering and cawing. I wonder if they know they have an audience, and they put on a show for whoever’s watching? If I had a lawnchair, I could sit for hours and watch their aerial antics.

Hiking back down the steep mountain switchbacks was painful: my right knee and my left hip were screaming in pain from the unnatural angles and the extra torque of slamming my feet into the hillside. I was walking slowly, wincing in pain, swinging my right leg like a pirate with a pegleg.

Thankfully, I made it back to the hotel safely, looking only a little bit like The Walking Dead, and I got to my room and dined on a peanut butter & jelly sandwich and some applesauce. After my 13-mile hike, it was a meal fit for a King.

Today, of course, I was popping aspirins like they were jelly beans, but you know, all things considered, I think I did okay for an old dinosaur.

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I've always considered myself to be a nerdy fanboy. I love all things scifi, fantasy, and anime. Though in recent years there have been a number of long-running franchises that have been getting worse and worse and worse as time went on. Some nearly completely destroying the series that I love. With the release of the new Star Wars movie, I've had some time to self-reflect on my feelings towards such deeply beloved franchises, which ultimately lead me to the decision I've made today. To stop being a fan of anything, ever.

There are so many demonstrably terrible things about the new Star Wars movies, that I won't waste my time going through all of it here. But to sum it up, these new movies destroy regress all character development made by the original cast, eliminate the accomplishments made in the original series by making it all for naught, do a cheap re-hashing of the original trilogy, place totally bland and boring (and even a Mary Sue) type characters as the new main cast, and eliminate over 90% of the Star Wars canon by replacing the Expanded Universe with this ilk. Disney is ruining Star Wars, one of my most beloved nerdy fanboy franchises. In realizing this, it becomes difficult for me to really get into any part of the series at all anymore. Now even watching the original trilogy, or experiencing anything from the EU simply reminds me of this terrible job they're doing with the series now days. However, the same could be said of many other beloved series out there, not just Star Wars.

There are numerous other big-name beloved series from my childhood that have become progressively worse with new recent installments:(I'll keep my rant on each of them in spoilers, just so as not to distract from my main point)

Spoiler

Dragon Ball Z was the first real anime I watched as a kid. Yes, the anime undoubtedly has many many flaws, but overall it was something that I and many other fans thoroughly enjoyed. However due to it's success, the creators of Dragon Ball decided to milk the franchise for all it's worth by starting up a brand new series in it's stead: Dragon Ball Super. Now technically, this isn't the first time the series creators decided to continue on the story of the series when it really didn't need to be continued. They did so back in the 90's with Dragon Ball GT, and that spin-off/continuation series really F'd up the series in a number of ways. Many fans have debated for years as to whether GT was even considered part of the official canon or not. However after a brief hiatus, the series was revamped with the start of a new series to replace GT (Dragon Ball Super), finally putting the canonization debate to rest. However the series that took the place of GT was not only bad in it's own right, it was actually way worse.

Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2 were a couple of my absolute favorite videogames growing up. Yeah, the second game made the narrative a bit more confusing than it needed to be, but it wasn't indecipherable. However instead of following up Kingdom Hearts 2 with it's direct sequel Kingdom Hearts 3 just a few years after the game's release (like they did with the original KH), they instead fill the market with a bunch of stupid handheld spin-offs that make the story one of the most convoluted, confusing, and downright dumbass stories ever written into a videogame. Period. And we're still waiting over 10 years later for the release of Kingdom Hearts 3. Yes, over 10 whole effin' years later, and we still don't have the direct sequel that the developers keep promising. At this point though, they've already F'd up the whole damn story so much that I really don't care what happens in KH3. Yet I can't help but want to call myself a fan de to my absolute love towards the original 2 games.

Bleach is another big name franchise that got horribly ruined. Bleach was my go-to anime back in middle and high school. My absolute favorite. However, mid-way through the official story, series creator Tite Kubo decided to do a complete rehashing of the exact same story elements all over again. What's worse was that the anime developers were working faster than the manga author the anime was based on, so they ended up filling up literally half the anime series with completely dumb and pointless non-canon filler episodes. Some even span the length of two full seasons! Would've been better if the animators just took a bit of a hiatus once in a while, and then allow the series to make the occasional return to continue the story, rather than fill the space with a bunch of cheap fan service gimmicks that break the continuity of the story and are completely non-canon anyway. It eventually got so bad, that the anime was cancelled after a certain point, whereas the manga continued on. Mind you, this series was once part of what was known as the 'Big 3', one of the 3 most popular anime in the world. However it dropped so much in quality that the anime was cancelled, and the manga continued on with the most chaotic hot mess of an after story one could think of. The series eventually had to be abruptly ended due to lack of readers and the total decline of the fan base.

Final Fantasy VII is widely regarded as one of the most famous and beloved videogames of all time. (side note to those who don't know: each main Final Fantasy game has a roman numeral by order of it's release, but each has it's own story, characters, and setting. So 'VII' isn't a continuation of anything previously. It's it's own story entirely. Same with VIII, IX, X, etc.) However due to it's success, the game developers decided to expand upon the series with the 'Compilation of Final Fantasy VII', which is essentially just a compilation of various spin-off games and a movie. While these spinoffs aren't necessarily bad in their own way, they do add so much unnecessary additions to the story. Each addition feels very much like an addition, that doesn't at all fit with the original story. The original story was written as a closed narrative. It had a beginning, middle, and end; with no real room for or need to expand upon that. However simply because it was a successful game, the developers felt the need to make more content anyway. Now though, they've decided that since they can't add anymore content to the story, they're just gonna go back to the drawing board and completely remake the original. What's worse is that they've rendered ALL previous works in the series completely non-canon, and are breaking up the remake into multiple separate games with some additions and alterations. So now they're gonna screw up their own greatest hit for some extra cash.

Sad thing is, that this sorta thing had been done before in some ways to other Final Fantasy titles. Final Fantasy X was a closed story that had a sad but heartfelt ending that [SPOILER ALERT] had the main character Tidus die (or technically just disappear) in the end. Yet they immediately come out with a sequel following it's success that does nothing to advace the story (since it had already been fully resolved in the first one) and actually brings Tidus back to life at the end of it completely out of nowhere; thereby ruining any heartfelt impact the first game had on it's audience with his death. Final Fantasy XIII had two sequels made, being the first Final Fantasy to be made as a trilogy. Yet each sequel totally retcon's the ending of the previous story, and apart from having many of the same characters, has a story that is completely unrelated to the rest of the series. After all, the original game (once again) is a closed story. Nothing more that can be added to it that doesn't screw up the original. Now it seems that Square Enix (the company that makes these games) have adopted the notion of just coming out with each new title in the series with multiple separate segments. Final Fantasy XV is the most recent installment in the series, and yet you won't have a sufficient grasp on the story unless you watch the subsequent movie and anime that goes alongside it and came out around the same time.

Attack on Titan (which is a much more recent series, but nonetheless) is another that's gone completely off the rails. What was originally written as a one-shot manga, was later adapted into a full-blown manga and anime. What started out as a mysterious survival series about man eating giants filled with plot twists and interesting steam-punk style tech, has now devolved into 'The X-Men: Giants addition!' Each titan now has it's own special abilities, the titans themselves are less-relevant enemies and are replaced with humans and titan shifters, and we now know that there are only 9 people who can ever turn into a titan, and that each person with the ability to turn into a titan has only 13 years after gaining the ability to live. This adds unnecessarily limits to a story that originally ran on an exciting premise. Now it's all about titan shifters versus a human government. Imagine if this were to happen in a zombie series? Shift the focus entirely away from zombies, and focus entirely on warring factions of humans with a select few having special 'zombie-esque' abilities. It's no longer a zombie series at that point. However this wouldn't have happened at all if not for the fact that the series creator was pressured into continuing a story that was not originally written to be a series. It was meant solely to be a short series about man-eating titans, but since the conflict of the story surrounding the titans (based on the setting) can and is easily resolved, the only other obstacles one could write into the story at that point are man-made ones. This is what happens when you insist that a story continues past it's original intent.

I could go on with other series, but these are the main ones I have major issues with. Just keep in mind, these aren't the only ones being ruined with recent installments...

So why is this happening? Why are so many beloved popular series from our childhood being ruined by the new content that the creators produce? The answer is simply that it all goes back to money. At the end of the day, it's not really about making a great work of art. It's about making the money off the fan base. It costs A LOT of money to make things like movies, TV shows, videogames, etc. and in today's world the cost of making such things has skyrocketed. Therefore it's a much less risky investment when pouring a butt ton of money into a franchise that already has a fan base, as opposed to pouring out essentially the same amount of money into a totally new franchise that has no established fan base at all. With the already popular franchises, you're guaranteed some good returns, even if what you've created is a steamy pile of crap.

Yet the real problem is with the fan base themselves. These companies would not be making money off this garbage if it weren't for each of these series' fans. Because fans of the original Star Wars love the series so much, they're willing to pay out and go see the next movie regardless of whether it's actually good or not. They're essentially paying for the brand name, and nothing more. By paying these companies more money for their trashy content, the fans incentivize companies to make more trashy content for them to consume. The fans want more of what they're a fan of, but doing so creates a trade-off by creating more and more crappy content in a franchise that was never meant to go beyond a certain point.

This isn't really a new concept. It's what has been the driving force behind most all sequels to any series really, and so it does have it's place. However the problem in modern times is again, the skyrocketing cost to make any new content, which causes developers to take less financial risks. This is why Hollywood is chock full of remakes, reboots, and sequels in recent decades. Yet the fans continue to openly consume the garbage they create, if for no other reason then the nostalgia.

Essentially what I'm getting at is, it's easy to point a finger at the developers of such abhorrently bad content that ruins otherwise absolutely beloved franchises, however they wouldn't be developing such content in the first place, if it weren't for the fans being complicit in their creation. It's essentially fanboy culture that's to blame for this recent trend in franchise destruction. Fans will financially support whatever s**t these companies churn out, so long as it has the right brand name.

We all need to become much more conscientious consumers, and only pay for the content we truly support. That's why I've decided to no longer be complicit in this garbage anymore. That's why I am not a fan boy anymore.

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The fact that hauntings can never be disputed as proven by the amount of evidence available by those having captured it has been hotly debated for many years between believers and skeptics alike. And even when all conditions had been exhausted regarding all the hows something might have existed is it found that often there will always be those who will just never chose to believe! Which is why you never go out of your way to prove something of which you may know to be real but that those who had not been there to experience it may align with that fact to both ridicule and bury you and your efforts. In essence, you state your case, provide your evidence, remain firm in your conviction, and move on to your next moment of acquisition.

This particular photo was captured during a rather hot day and coinciding with what had been a Class X solar event!

Not sure if that made any difference as to how this rather startling apparition had appeared for my camera but then it would always be wise to perhaps consider it so.

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I promised in my last entry in this series I was gonna make this a weekly series, post once every Sunday at least. I also promised that this blog series was the beginning of making several life changes. That was over 3 months ago. I promised a lot of things, and obviously failed on all of them. I'm actually laughing right now at the absurdity of it all. However, it's a new year, and I promised myself I wasn't gonna let another year go by without addressing these issues. New year, new resolutions. I let another week go by here in the beginning, but no more.

So yeah. Don't really have a plan yet as to how Imma tackle these main issues this year, however I am announcing that I'll be starting at it again and sticking with it to the end. Not much more to add here, just thought I'd make it official.

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Three Heart Echo by Keary Taylor ended up on my reading list by yet another mislabeling on NetGalley, I must admit. As seen in the title image above, the book is a paranormal suspense. If you've read my blog for any length of time, you'll no doubt guess that I grabbed it from the horror genre titles. Fortunately, after revisiting its cover I can at least say that its actual genre is the right one. While Three Heart Echo does have some elements of horror, it reads more like a paranormal-themed Lifetime movie.

Taking place soon after the death of Jack Caraway, Three Heart Echo tells the story of two vastly different people meeting and, you guessed it, falling in love. It's not that simple though, and several of the more twisted things that one might expect from a horror novel surface throughout the plot. Iona Faye, a frail woman mourning the death of her fiance, seeks out Sully Whitmore, a man rumored to be able to speak to the dead. Together, the two unravel the darkness of Jack's past while racing against time to unravel not one, but two curses.

Overall, the story itself is engaging to a degree, but it definitely wasn't my style. I think it belongs more in the paranormal romance genre than it does horror.

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I sure don't have a lot to show for all my time here. I do come here almost everyday but I just don't not sign in. Don't even remember 2004. Four years before Obama came to power. So I will try to blog more. Also post in the forums. This is a good site , I do like it here. See you soon. cliff

Antarctica Secrets includes US Navy footage from Admiral Byrd's South Pacific Expedition , reveals the impenetrable wall of ice they encountered, discusses Operation Highjump and looks at the recent mysterious events that have taken place in Antarctica. Just what is this "land of everlasting mystery" as Admiral Byrd liked to call it, hiding?

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Having established that the mind can play a role in how we interpret paranormal events or experiences, we are going to consider this theory further. I’m not saying that the tricks our mind can play on us are explanations for all paranormal experiences, because it’s not. We are going to be speaking to a parapsychologist and focus on the work done by the Koestler Parapsychology Unit.

I linked a survey at the end of the article Paranormal: Power of the Mind, to get people opinion on what they thought of the idea that the mind could play tricks on us, when it comes to paranormal experiences.

One survey respondent, said: “I think the mind, especially an over active or emotional mind does have the ability to make you think you may have experienced something. However, in believing in the paranormal it is important to remember there does not need to be an answer for everything and sometimes there are no answers.”

Dr. Caroline Watt founding member of KPU, The University of Edinburgh[/caption]

Dr. Caroline Watt, founding member of Koestler Parapsychology Unit (KPU), based in the Psychology Department at The University of Edinburgh, said: “I got interested in parapsychology because, as a psychology graduate, I was aware that paranormal beliefs and experiences are quite common, and I wanted to find out what lay behind these experiences.“I decided to study parapsychology because I thought it would be interesting - and I was right!”

Reports of paranormal experiences have long been reported, including, near-death experiences, dream precognition and hauntings. Research conducted by KPU examines the causes and impacts of these experiences. KPU focused on four aspects these causes and impacts: Precognitive dreaming, the function of paranormal beliefs and the discursive approach.

Precognitive dream experiences are dreams that appear to predict the future. Dr Watt investigated the psychological factors that may explain precognitive dream experiences. One study found that some precognitive dreams are due to people finding connections between their dreams and subsequent events.

Dr. Watt, said: “My research has found that people who believe in the paranormal are more likely to see correspondences or connections between dream reports and news reports that have been randomly paired. This suggests a normal mechanism that might lead to an increased frequency of seemingly precognitive dream experiences.”

The second aspect of KPU research was, the function of paranormal beliefs, the research suggests, that for some people, paranormal belief may provide a sense of control in chaotic or stressful situation. The KPU conducted two studies, the first showed a link between a lack of a sense of control during childhood and the development of paranormal beliefs in adulthood, which was conducted by Dr Watt and Dr Richard Wiseman in 2007. The second showed that more than half of those reporting paranormal experiences had experienced a negative life event, before the experience happened.

A photo used by the KPU to demonstrate the function of paranormal beliefs.

Dr. Watt, said: “A person who has had a traumatic or chaotic childhood might develop paranormal beliefs in order to give them a sense of control over their environment. For instance, thinking that you can read other people's minds may give you comfort and a feeling of control.”

The findings from the two studies, into the function of paranormal beliefs, are in-line with a wider body of research, conducted by Watt and Wiseman in 2004, which examined how paranormal beliefs can provide an illusory sense of control.

Dr. Watt, said: “Let's take superstitious beliefs as an example. People who live in dangerous environments, such as near an active volcano, have more superstitious beliefs than those who live in less dangerous environments. Those who live near the volcano may have various rituals that they practice in order to try to placate the 'god of the volcano'. This is a paranormal belief. It makes the people feel more in control of the situation, however their behavior does not actually affect the volcano.”

Understanding paranormal belief is difficult, but an alternative approach is to examine them as discursive phenomena.

Dr. Watt, said: “This looks at the language used by people when they talk about their paranormal beliefs and experiences. For example, when a person says, "I'm a skeptic, but you'll never believe what happened to me", the discursive approach looks at the work that is done by the phrase 'I'm a skeptic". That phrase is said in order to make the person appear to be a critical thinker. It is used to strengthen the paranormal claim that follows.”

One reader of the article Paranormal: Power of the Mind, said: “After reading this I feel that what O’Keeffe was saying is spot on. I believe that the combination of night / dark, being tired, your mind plays tricks on you with the combination of being cold helpless strange noises accentuates the ghostly experience.”

In response to the previous comment, one reader, said: “That absolutely explains some things, but it positively does not explain them all. I can attest to the reality, and 100% positive knowledge for myself that there is something just on the other side of what we can see. It has the ability to see us, and interact with us, but for the most part, remains unseen. When a person has their own unquestionable experience, their world view changes forever.”

In regard to ghosts or spirits, Dr. Caroline Watt, said: “I think it is most likely the case that normal factors, such as pareidolia, can explain most ghostly experiences.”

An example of Pareidolia or Matrixing.

Pareidolia, otherwise known as matrixing, is the psychological phenomenon in which the mind responds to a stimulus, usually an image or a sound, by perceiving a familiar pattern where none exists.

Another respondent, of the survey, said: “My mind knows what it is doing and tells the body what to do.”

Between Paranormal: Power of the Mind and this article we have covered many psychological explanations for paranormal experiences, although these are just a few of many psychological explanations. As some of the survey respondents pointed out, psychological explanations only explain some, not all, of the many paranormal experiences that have been reported. I have never personally experienced anything paranormal, however, I have spoken to many people and you can see in every fiber of their being that they have experienced something and that experiences have impacted them. The research Dr. Caroline Watt has conducted made it clear that our mind can subconsciously, be making connections or seeking control, and its these types of mind tricks that are out with our control as we might not even realize what we’re doing. The article Paranormal: Power of the Mind concentrated more on the psychological explanations we can take into consideration. For example, when we’re investigating the paranormal, watching paranormal TV programmes or reading about the paranormal, we can consider suggestibility and priming. Especially, with hindsight we can consider these explanations along with other physical explanations, but we would find it hard to consider the evidence Dr. Watt found from her research, as these psychological explanations are happening subconsciously. Although, I am a believer in the paranormal I think it is important to be aware of all the explanations out there to enable you to have a full picture.

The Mystery of Our Lady of Guadalupe’s Eyes

The eyes of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe are one of the great enigmas of science, according to a Peruvian engineer José Tonsmann, who has extensively studied this “mystery.”

This graduate of Cornell University has spent more than 20 years examining the image of the Virgin printed on the coarse and fibrous tilma worn by Saint Juan Diego, who received the apparitions that would decisively change the history of the continent.

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The first time I felt this out-of-control force was soon after a show back in 1998. My debut as a singer was in 1996 in a student holiday party. I felt great. I've always felt out of place, awkward, socially-incompetent, but once in stage I was a total different person. I could say or do whatever and people would dig it. I've been doing the same for the last 21 years. That night in 1998 while I was resting and trying to clean the sweat out of my body and while everybody was coming to say how magnificent the show was I felt it for the first time. It was the feeling of being completely alone, the feeling of dispair. I received the greetings with a smile, a shake of hands, a hug, but inside of me I felt that everyone was just being fake as **** and I just wanted to go home, cover myself in bed and cry.

That feeling has been haunting me since then.

That night after the show we went to a local bar to have a couple of beers. We were still minors but since we were musicians and we knew the owner, everything was fine. We talked about the show, met some friends and everybody was having a great time. I was continuously watching the clock because I wanted to go home. Every now and then after any show, I feel this way. I learned to evade myself from others and just take a break. I just have to take a break. It's like a social charge that I can't bear. I need to rest from it. In those 10 minutes of "break time" I go through many different feelings: sorrow, embarassment, lonelyness, guilt.

Depression is a common and serious medical disorder and this disorder affects every aspect of your life. During a big part of my life I struggled (and I still do!) through it. I've had addiction problems, relationship problems, work problems, family issues and many other things due to this disorder. Sometimes I didn't want to get up from bed and I spent most of my time just watching the ceiling of my room thinking that nobody gave a d*mn about me, that nobody really loved me. I've lost lots of weight, I've gained lots of weight, I've quit my band several times, I've fought every and each one of the people who used to play with, I've done horrible things to myself and not a single time I said to myself "I'm doing this because I'm ill".

I felt hollow. Like, in any happy moment of my life I felt hollow anyway. I smiled, I celebrated. I even said I was happy but inside of me I felt hollow. Like if something was missing. Like if something wasn't right. That's how you live with depression. Even when you know you're doing alright it's there.

I started this blog because I want to write my experiences with this disorder. My therapy. Things I do to feel better. Things I do to fight-back . Stories that may be inspirational or raise a warning flag on yourself. I don't know. It may be helpful for some. Until the next entry.

This is me back in the 90s. Adjusting an amp before a rehearsal. I was extremely thin. I didn't eat properly, spending most of my time drinking or having drugs with my friends. I was just discovering that the force inside me was making me not care about anything else.

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Despite differences in any society or culture, you could find in many of their folklore common imaginary about the supernatural. Since the earliest human civilization, there have been stories about people returning from the grave needing to feed upon humans to substance themselves. Legends of these creatures are told across the global including Japan with its folklore holding some morbid myths such as the Hone-onna.

In Japan’s lore, yokai are malevolent supernatural entities often created by the returning spirit of a human or animal to been wronged in life seeking revenge. However, even undying love may give rise to an undead creatures. When a woman dies still desiring to stay with their family or lover, her spirit manifest into a hone-onna. This yokai will appear as a young, beautiful woman disguising her true form of a rotten walking corpse or skeleton.

In legends, the hone-onna is a ghost which returns wanting to continue the love of those she had in life. She would arise from the grave at night and return to the home of her family or lover. The yokai’s suddenly appearance would shock those grieving her passing, yet be joyous of the woman’s return unaware of her true nature. Myths mention, even hone-onna may not even be aware herself of what she transforming into.

In lore, unsuspecting husbands or lovers would often fall victim to this yokai. The hone-onna visited the male at night to engage in intimacy where she feed’s off their life force then leaving in the morning. This course of action usually resulted in the man’s death. Only those strong in will or of could see pass the disguise and maybe able to intervene. Often in stories, man who been warned of the hone-onna still continued to embrace the ghost, even at the cost of their lives.

Hone-onna, in several myths, continue to exist long after killing their lovers. Either a wish to continue living or be embraced by someone, these yokai carry on appearing at night seducing young men and substance them by extracting their life force. In some forms of Japanese media, the hone-onna been the setting for tragic love stories.

This report was unfortunately delayed due to no fault of my own (of course)… Following the events of the Festival and Rodeo, as I was making my way back to my Luxury Oubliette (one of the perks of being the one who makes all this nonsense up) I was accosted in one of the dark twisty back alleys that serve as side streets in Downtown UM, by one of my renegade doppelgangers who was left over from the Moon Dance And Masquerade Party. He was wearing a clever disguise (one of those plastic “Groucho Nose, moustache and glasses thingies) so I was caught completely unawares - I mean it totally fooled me…

After asking me if I knew what year it was, and as I was fumbling around trying to find my handy-dandy pocket Mayan Calendar…

He threw a potato sack over my head (one large enough to fit easily over my antlers) and I found myself whisked away! When the sack was finally removed (and the potatoes pulled out of my mouth and ears) I found myself aboard the flagship of the Renegade Beer Balloon Fleet, facing the Fleet Admiral, Old “Tipsy” Bill Tipler himself!

While I was understandably upset and fearing for my sanity… um… nope, actually I gave up on that a long time ago… fearing for my um… uh… Antlers! Yeah that’s it! Fearing for my antlers, I bravely faced Admiral Tipler and heroically shouted out “Please don’t hurt me!” as I feel to my knees (hard to do for moose) and bravely groveled before him….

He blearily looked at me with his bloodshot eyes, belched rather loudly and replied… “Nah. We ain’t gonna hurt youse… We jest wanna knock ya over da head and let yer dopplegr… dokkleganner… douoblegan… this guy, take yer place!”

Still exhibiting my normal legendary courage I whined “But why? He’s just like me! In fact he IS me! Just me from a couple hours ago… sorta kinda…”

He sneered, listed heavily to port (left is “port” right? I mean yes? Not right, that’s starboard or something isn’t it?) and passed gas heavily enough that the zeppelin we were on lurched forward 50 feet and several small fires started, which the crew scrambled to put out before the hydrogen in the gas bags could ignite…

“Yeah, he’s youse alright. But he’s youse what we controls. Ya see? Yer what passes fer the most inflewinchal … influenza… enchilada ..um… most read reporter of what goes on here at da UM complex, lord help us… And we wants sum bedder reportin’… We’uns er tired of the bad news youse been puttin’ out about us’ns… We wants the people to like and trust us guys, sos we ken swoop down and steal their nachos and beer and stuff! Ya see?”

Well, a few more hours of that and I almost lost my ability to think in coherent(ish) English, I was even loosing my grasp of my native Okie language! I knew I had to escape or eventually I would turn into a total blithering idiot (even more-so than normal anyway) and also to stop their insidious plan while I still knew how to spell insidious!

But they had trapped me well, and I spent many days locked away in the bilge of that huge ship (which was actually nicer than my oubliette), swabbing the decks with a beat up old three strand mop, trying to clean up the spilled stale beer, and other less savory liquids and such…

Meanwhile my double – the me of several hours ago, from last July, was unleashed upon you, the unsuspecting and helpless denizens of the great, sprawling UM complex… Causing no end of trouble, confusion and mayhem as he/I/whatever took over my life and my duties…

Time wore on and finally my chance came… Two days ago, the fleet made a resupply stop at one of the several supply depots/breweries they had created around the Complexes vast land holdings… This one was deep in the heart of the Pointless Forest, halfway up the steep slopes of Nosebleed Ridge. While the crew topped off the hydrogen in the gas bags, and restocked the coolers and snack cabinets, I made my way through a small porthole (after removing my antlers with a handy allen wrench) and slid down the anchor cable… After re-attaching my antlers I was off like a shot through the forest, down the slope and across the Great Eastern Artillery Impact Zone (both A and and then it was a short hop across the Great Outer Moat and back into the UM complex proper…

I found my double back in my Oubliette reclining on my bed of nails, eating bon-bons and reading the latest issue of Floggers Quarterly… I was further enraged when I saw that he/I had already worked the crossword puzzle! After a short tussle, I had him tied up and turned over to the levels Chief Inquisitor – who was happy to have a new “friend” to “play” with… Then I set about the grim task of correcting my doubles mischief…

Fortunately the me of a couple hours ago is an idiot… A lazy idiot, who had done nothing at all – so no harm done!

Now… On with the long overdue Report of the 8,913th Annual Halloween Black Light Monster Festival and Inaugural Great Old Ones Rodeo… (and you thought you could escape this?... Bwah-haw-haw! <Insert other evil laughs here>)

Precisely at 9:23 and 15 and a half seconds, the Grand Rodeo Parade kicked off the festivities… The parade route started at the Great Central Administration Building and made it’s way out to the Great Eastern Artillery Impact Zone (A)… Riding out in front were the Junior Cowpersons… Cowthings?… CowCthuloids?… Whatever… These eager, bright and cheerful… okay less grim… Young(ish) creatures of the Great Outer Darkness, stalked, slithered, oozed and otherwise moved down the cobblestone streets of Downtown UM… Most were riding… something… somethings that were even more indescribable than they were, and as they passed – to a loud and hearty cheer from the very impressed crowd… (Seriously, they were impressed… In much the same way a reluctant person used to be impressed into the navy), the cobblestones cracked, split, bubbled and melted under their weight, body acids and in some cases furnace like heat…

Next came the battalions of Rodeo Clowns walking bravely down the melted street, waving to the crowds as the battalions of Floggers following closely behind “urging them on”…

Following the Floggers, came several mobs of zombie “clowns”, all gaily decked out in their tattered sackcloth and bright iridescent paint… As the zombies flung small candies (and the occasional “loose” body part) to the crowds, they were kept in neat orderly rows by the help of volunteers equipped with cattle prods – all to the great delight of the crowds…

Finally came the “big guys”… The stars of this years Rodeo…Leading the pack (though it was hard to tell on that cosmic of a scale) was none other than Cthulhu himself! Looking very dapper and “Western” in his Chaos Beast Hide Chaps, Wooly vest and topped off with his famous 10,000 gallon hat, he stalked …er… moseyed down the street one hand-appendage hooked in his pistol belt and the other waving his monstrously huge hat to the crowd… His mouth tentacles were cleverly waxed into a semblance of a handlebar moustache and at his side stalked his former wife Idh-yaa, dressed as a really huge, monstrous version of Dale Evans… Following closely behind were their four offspring. Gthanothoa, dressed in a voluminous leather duster and sporting the legendary Shining Trapezohedron as a nifty buckle on his gun belt. Beside him strode his younger brother Ythogtha, (“Froggy” to his friends) decked out in his favorite Hopalong Cassidy Costume… Rounding out the trio of Cthulhu’s sons was Zoth-Ommog (“Zoggie” to his friends –of which it is said he has none)… “Zoggie” sported a natty three piece suit made of armadillo hide, and like his older brother Gthanothoa, wore chaps (of squiggle hide) and a large Cowboy hat made of Kelp…

Following closely came their little sister Cthylla… Her father’s light and joy, little Cthylla is the spitting image of her dad… Right down to the cute mass of writhing tentacles around her mouth parts… Dressed similar to her favorite cartoon character “Jessie” from Toy Story (complete with red yarn wig for hair) Little Cthylla was definitely a crowd favorite…

There was a lot of talk about this second appearance of other Cthulhu and his former wife Idh-yaa… And keen eyed observers (who were not otherwise turned to mummies, or into gibbering lunatics - not that anyone would notice around here - by the mere sight of the Cthulhu family) could spy a ring on Idh-yaas… um…finger?... Tentacle?.. Claw?... Perhaps a retaking of vows in the future?

Following the parade – and the policing up of the catatonic/immolated/gibbering masses- the Rodeo began at the Artillery Impact Zone (A) – where they couldn’t do much more damage…

The events of the day included, Squiggle Wrangling; Hounds Of Tindalos Roundups; Demon Roping; Rope Twirling and Brontosaurus Broncho Riding…

As this was a charity event there were no champions crowned… Just good, clean, wholesome, chaotically evil fun for the whole family! There was one final humorous note to the festivities… It seems that Cute Little Cthylla really fell for the squiggles that were featured in the “juniors” events… Seeing that the Head Mod encouraged the crowd to “rustle up a few squiggles for the little lady”… The crowd stormed the arena and for the first time in recorded history, squiggles ran AWAY from UM members rather than the other way around! … Soon little Cthylla was the proud owner of a flock of rather disgruntled and rather frightened squiggles…

Following the Rodeo and the bar-b-q that accompanied it, the Halloween Black Light Monster Fest commenced… The party lasted well into the night, and we had the best year of costumes ever (and this was the 8,913rd consecutive annual event so that’s saying something!)… The costumes were so good in fact that several actual monsters were in attendance and no one noticed! Most notable among the costumes was the person who showed up dressed as a Mummy Dressed as a Clown, Dressed as a Librarian… And we all know how creepy Librarians are! However she was disqualified when it was discovered that it was UM’s own Head Librarian Lotta “Dusty” Tomes and she hadn’t even bothered to change out of her work clothes into a costume…

For the first time, the Aliens from the Alien Space Saucer Fleet(s) were invited to the party… These guys, gals and things from alien worlds are quickly becoming UM favorites and they sure know how to party…. They even helped out with the refreshments… After a few hours the “eats” were running low, so the First Alien Space Saucer Fleet (not the second and third ones they created by time travel) zipped up to the UM Lunar Complex and back in record (faster than light) time and gathered up the food and drink from four hours ago and brought it forward… So we got double the refreshments at half the cost (and gained another Alien Space Saucer Fleet)…

Music was more-or-less provided by the newly pardoned Noggin Knockers band and they played loud and with great spirit (if not great skill)… As the dancing progressed and Idh-yaa was constantly being asked to dance, Cthulhu was persuaded to take a turn on the drums… Watching him play with all eight (or so) arms going and even his mouth parts tentacles grasping drumsticks was an awe inspiring (and deafening) sight, and literally mind-numbing…

Heck of a party!

Eventually the party started breaking up, even the Cthulhu family had to leave (poor little Cthylla was starting to yawn and no one wanted to be around when that happened!). So they gathered up their four kids, all the squiggles the kids decided to keep and used the Shining Trapezohedron on Gthanothoa’s belt to interdimensionally travel back home to R’lyeh,

I stayed on for a short while to help organize the zombie janitor crews in cleaning up, then made my way back toward my cozy little luxury oubliette… when I met myself…

We’ll have to do this again next year (provided the cosmos survives this one)!

Please feel free to comment with your thoughts, and also a description of your costume, and activities… Also, whoever took Alien Space Saucer Crewthing Gleph home with them, please bring it back… It’s the only one they have that can make coffee the way the Admiral likes it…

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With the evening slanting through the yellows and reds that provide a stained glass effect of fooling ones eye into almost believing it could be just another summer evening out the windowpane comes the last of the reaping... for tonight falls the last light of Samhain.

The beds of promise and bounty have all yielded up their fruits and their bodies laid to rest in the compost bins while their summer beds are tucked under thick mulches. The last moment ripest of seeds before the frosts come have been gleaned. That which is left is left for other reapers than us.

The devils have danced around their fires for a night.. and tucked away their masks for another year. The offerings of Hallows Eve have been anticipated. The sweet savoring of anticipation for spooky has been fulfilled and now the gentler time of this dying season can lay it's leaves and frosts upon us. We are thankful in this time of final turning to the white sleep of death.

For now comes the time to enjoy the reaping, tucked away in our blankets and burrows. Now comes the time of fattening up on the fattening up of the earth. Now is the time to refuse the dearth to come while the sun goes to reap other fields for the last time.

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Do we really have a need to know or a need to prove our points of view? What role plays ego, vanity and narcissism in this light?

I think that we have a need to know. Knowledge is power, but more important than knowledge is the power gained by confirmation of our view of reality. Thus we have a horde mentality, you know, when individuals like to make clans. It is not anything unusual, it gives a sense of security, acceptance and power. Truth is hard to grasp, on the other hand since it is hard to grasp a much easier shortcut to feeling of stability security and power is through associating with fellow clan members and confirming your own points. Everybody likes it, myself included.

So how do we grow? If everybody would just confirm everything you say that would be pretty dull. So we need a tension, but the tension comes naturally since there are no two individuals with exactly the same view of reality, and when a view of reality is challenged a defense mechanism starts. Here we have one intersting thing. We may divide people here. There are those who like logic and truth and seeking the truth the hard way, and then there are those who stick with the clan and just fogging things evading the truth. Ego, vanitiy and narcissism is satisfied. The beast is fed. The problem is that those who seek harder rarely know if they are right. They doubt themselves, groving insecure because no one supports them since they break the dogma of the clan and the ego suffers. So what is better?

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Hello everyone. Last weekend my mum and her BF went camping in West Virgina, while they were out riding along the trails (They were quad-biking) they passed an old tunnel, my mum took a pic with her iPhone and showed me this image:

Which seems to show an odd v-shaped object. While it may have simply been a camera burp, or the strap of the phone case, this image taken moments later shows no sigh of the anomaly:

I'm not saying this is a ghostly photo, i just wanna hear your thoughts on what this could have been.

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"People in our culture have a morbid tendency to avoid blame, because they do not wish to take the trouble to change their conduct in any way: blame-avoidance and blame-transference are therefore endemic amongst us. These are substitutes for repentance and renewal."

BEHAVIOR RESEARCH PROJECT (Texas) 1951

"Man sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived."

Humans, we recently became aware that one or more of your number published a plea that you no longer refer to solitary mass murderers as "lone wolves".While we wolves have not seen this publication and therefore cannot give it due credit, we, the wolves, wish to enhance the theme with information and thoughts by which you, with your self declared intellectual superiority might benefit.

First, we remind you that you are animals.Oh? Think not? What are you then, plants? Stones? We find it curious that an animal which bristles at being called an animal uses so many comparisons to other animals.You say someone eats like a pig, is stubborn as a mule, reproduces like rabbits, and drinks like a fish. Yet you say someone is brave as a lion, has a memory like an elephant, is agile as a mountain goat, sly as a fox, wise as an owl, and noble as an eagle. Even one of your classic civilizations credited us. Remember the legend of the two infant brothers raised by one of our female wolves? Of course, when the boys grew up Romulus murdered Remus and went on to found Rome. We suspect we should have seen that coming.But doubtless you can think of more examples.

Second, as animals you, like any other species of plant or animal exist only through the relationship you have with your environment.Sure, you have developed endless technology to intervene between you and the normal variations and processes in "nature".But in truth, you are the Apex Invasive Species, you are the Apex Predator on this planet.You have spread your teeming masses to every livable continent on this planet, despoiling everywhere including Antarctica.Your "pesticides" are found in the body fat of almost every species no matter where they are.You claim to need these pesticides to assure your crops. Yet every year you throw out millions of tons of food before it ever reaches the market. Why? It's not aesthetically pleasing. Or, you want to ensure high prices. Your plastics are found in the dead bodies of animals you will never see.

You came into our forests, thriving ecosystems for a broad spectrum of biodiversity, and you stripped them bare for an extremely narrow ecosystem you know as pastureland to raise cattle and sheep, animals which require huge amounts of fresh water and which emit even larger volumes of deadly methane gas.You then force these animals into slaughter houses where, if they are subject to your religious laws such as kosher or halal, you slit their throats and let them stagger around in their own blood until they collapse. Of course, most of you don't do this; you allocate the dirty work to butchers who will wrap the meat in pretty packages for you.You cannot stomach the reality of getting food for yourself. You eat some and throw the rest away. Our cousins, the coyotes, have long known they can subsist entirely on the dumpsters outside your restaurants and fast food joints.

You came into our forests to kill us when in fact you destroyed our food source and laid out a buffet of cattle and sheep we had little choice but to take our sustenance from. You gas our dens to kill our children so they will not grow up to sustain the balance with our prey animals such as deer and elk, animals you want to kill for your own amusement or because, having killed their natural predator they have become overpopulated.You claim hunting is to "put meat on the table" when the money you spent on a hunting vehicle, fuel, high powered rifle and ammunition, hunting license and tags would keep meat from the local grocery store on your table for many months if not years.No, you just enjoy feeling the power of killing an unarmed animal as in those "canned hunts" so popular in States like Texas. You kill an average of 96 African elephants a day, taking the ivory for trinkets and leaving the animal to rot. You kill scores of rhinos yearly taking only the horn the powder of which you think will make your pitiful penises erect. You de-fin live sharks, leaving them to die a miserable death of starvation while you cook the fins for soup. You torture bulls to death, even setting their horns on fire for your amusement. And, sadly, the list goes on.

You raise populations of fur bearing animals, including "Man's best friend", in cages to electrocute them for your fur trimmed fashion garments and soft gloves made from dog skin.

You "introduced" us (we call it "returned" us) into parts of the northwest United States to show how good you are, how ecologically advanced you are. What happened?The ecosystem quickly began recovering. Streams that had become fast moving torrents yielding flash flooding and unsuitable conditions for fish, beavers, and a multitude of other animals began returning to a state which supports the balance of life. How so?After you had trapped and shot us to near extinction the deer and elk were then free to wade into the wetlands, where they had been vulnerable to us as they sank a bit into the mud,and eat the young shoots growing there.Those shoots would have grown into the plants that stabilized the stream, keeping it from eroding the banks and making the water unlivable and dangerous.As we returned, the deer and elk avoided those young shoots and the streams returned to a livable ecosystem. And now you want to trap, gas, and shoot us again.

Recently one of your "intelligent" hunters shot and killed a family therapy dog from ten feet away.He claimed he thought it was one of us.Apparently his only familiarity with us comes from the Big Bad Wolf type cartoons you scare your children with, just as the only familiarity so many of your self-styled "cowboys" have with cattle is the drawing of Elsie on their milk carton.

We know of no other animal which kills for enjoyment on the scale you do. You even kill each other in massive numbers.You gut programs that help people live healthy and educated lives in favor of programs to develop even deadlier weapons for killing each other. No other animal on the face of this Earth is so consumed by and dedicated to the mass extermination of its own kind. No other animal on the face of this Earth claims divine sanction from some spiritual being as the justification for exterminating people who do not believe in or worship this particular being.

For these reasons and many more we, the wolves, demand you cease and desist from calling your murderers, whether killers of a few or killers of many, "lone wolves".That is a despicable slander against our good name and against our long standing place in nature.In fact, we can think of no greater slander than calling one of us "human".

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I was born in Lexington Kentucky, and raised (during my early years) in a satellite town just outside of Lexington called Georgetown, where most of my family is from. My mother was a elementary school teacher, while my father worked for the local water treatment plant. They met due to my grandmother (my mother's mother) working as a receptionist at the water plant. My parents married in 1989, I was born in 1993, and they divorced in 1995. I don't even hardly remember them being together. They were both in their mid to late upper 30's when they had me, and I was their only child.

My mother is an exceptional woman. She was raised as a Baptist preacher's kid which was of course, an incredibly abusive home. She was the oldest of three, and was the one child that for some reason got the full brunt of all the physical and verbal abuse of her father. Of course on the outside to the general public he was a model citizen, yet in the home he was an abusive hypocrite. Her mother on the other hand, was more simply another victim, yet her silence in the face of this abuse was still essentially compliance nonetheless. Yet despite her situation in the home, she was able to greatly excel greatly in school. School was her only safe place, where she could excel and be rewarded for her efforts, as opposed to back home which was torture. She loved school. So much so, that as far back as she could remember she decided that she wanted to be a school teacher. Never did she ever consider anything else. Schooling was her life, and she would later go on to put herself through college and get a masters degree + in childhood education. She got herself a job without anyone else's assistance. She had to learn how to act like an adult in the grown world and to fend for herself at an early age, since her parents were never any real advocates who would be there to look out for her. My mother dedicated her life to inspiring and helping young children. Because of her tremendous success in the face of adversity, she holds others to the highest standards. I can honestly say in all the years that I've known her, that she has not once ever lied, ever cheated, and has always abided by the rules. She's never even had a single speeding ticket. All of this isn't to say that she's somehow 'perfect'. My mother isn't without flaws (and trust me, there are plenty. Mostly due to her abuse as a child, and the horribly traumatic experiences she's had along with me over the years), but the point I wish to emphasize here is that she is the very definition of a survivor. She's good hearted (even though she has her moments that I'll explain more about later), is extremely intelligent, and has a strong will with a capacity to succeed. She has always been the one advocate I've ever had in my life. Without her, there'd have been no way I ever could've survived.

My father on the other hand is a different story. My father was raised in a situation far worse than my mother was. More so I'm guessing than any of us will ever truly know. Whereas my mother's father was a religious hypocrite, my father's father was just about the lowest thing that ever crawled out from under a rock. At least my mother's father pretended to be a moral upstanding citizen. My father's father on the other hand was unapologetically open about his lecherous behavior. He was proud of it. (in fact I would even possibly go so far as to say he was a complete sociopath) My grandfather was a wife beater, who never worked a day in his life, proudly said "that's what I have the b**** here for", was an open racist who never referred to a black person as anything other than the 'N' word, physically and verbally (possibly even sexually, we don't really know) abused his children (specifically my father), and despite all of this was somehow never on drugs or alcohol and grew up in a kind loving family (once again, possibly just born a sociopath). I don't know my father's true history since he rarely would ever talk about it, but what I do know is that he was abused in numerous was by his father all through the years, and never received any assistance for it. My father absolutely 'loved' his mother though, who constantly coddled him and 'took care of him' all growing up.

Now, as for my father himself, there's a lot that happens to be a major mystery about him. As to what exactly 'caused' his behaviors that I'm about to express to you, I don't truly know. I don't think this can simply all be blamed on the abuse he suffered, as we are all ultimately responsible for our own actions. Nevertheless, there are a number of possible contributing factors about him that should be taken into consideration. I'll merely describe his behaviors themselves, and mention some possible causes. Just keep in mind, these possible causes are not definitive. Having said that, lets move on...

My father had an explosive temper. He never became physically violent, but he would brake things, throw things, pin people down and yell at them, and scream till he got red in the face. And these outbursts of his could easily be brought on by the most mundane things. There were numerous times in which he showed absolutely no signs of empathy towards other people. (i.e. he got angry when I was a baby at my crying so he nearly chocked me to death by stuffing tons of bread to my throat to shut me up, laughed hysterically when he taught me at the age of two 'how to shoplift' from Wal-Mart, was obsessed with revenge and getting even with people and would set out to destroy their lives in any way possible and would haunt them till the day they die, etc.) Now, my mother thought that he was just lazy and incompetent (possibly due to his own lazy and incompetent father), but at the same time he showed signs of possibly suffering from something else. Like I said previously, we don't really know. What we do know however, was that he had extreme difficulty remembering and following directions at work, and in doing chores at home, and in keeping up with basic things like bills and other typical adult errands. It wasn't just that he was lazy (don't get me wrong, he was lazy, but there seemed to be more to it then that), as he showed numerous signs of simply having mental difficulty keeping up with and completing basic tasks. And it certainly wasn't intelligence, cause if you engaged him on the right topic he'd quickly be able to show above average levels of intelligence. Yet of course these same problems carried over into his schooling as well. This is why my mother and I (and a number of psychologists) have considered him to have possibly been born with a strong case of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), on top of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He was officially diagnosed at one point with Explosive Personality Disorder (EPD), but other things that have been considered are Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and Sociopathy.

Now beyond all of that, my father was also a tremendous nerd. And I mean NERD. I'm talkin' old-school nerd, before nerd became somewhat cool. He loved all things superhero's, comic books, etc. He was a tremendous Star Wars / Star Trek fan, and loved everything Science Fiction and Fantasy. But most of all, he LOVED movies. He considered himself a 'movie enthusiast' and a 'movie collector'. He always had an entire wall of his house (biggest wall he could find near the TV) with shelves and shelves stacked full to the brim with movies. He would spend countless hours just sitting down obsessively watching movies (and TV shows btw, but mostly movies), and if anyone ever tried to break him away from it and bring him back into the real world to deal with any real world problems, that's when he would lose it and go into one of his explosive tantrums. He was a total Escapist. For those that don't know, an escapist is someone who in some way tries to 'mentally escape' into 'another world' in their head. It's basically what nerds do when they 'play pretend' in their minds and imagine themselves in whatever fictional world they (or someone else) dream up. In many cases, this is brought on as a learned defense mechanism in order for abuse victims to 'mentally escape' an otherwise inescapable situation. Of course at the same time we all do it to an extent whenever we go watch a movie or read a book, it's just a bit more extreme in these cases. So that is essentially my father.

Still with me so far? Because we've only scratched the surface. So now that my parent's stories are outta the way, on to my own back story in the next entry...

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soft whispers, as trees rustle, dancing to the wind's beat. as oceans hustle, mountains slowly move, and the distance of valleys grow smaller, its time and not even land or sea will come
in between of what's mine